JP2009262697A - Airbag device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an airbag device with a housing easily manufactured and having a high rigidity. <P>SOLUTION: The housing 6 for storing an airbag 3 is constituted of: a base member 7; and a square frame member 8 constituted of a long side portion 8a and a short side portion 8b, the base member 7 is formed of: a bottom plate 7a mounted with an inflator 10; and a plurality of connecting pieces 7b bent upward from a side edge of the bottom plate 7a, and the housing is formed by fixing the long side portion 8a of the frame member 8 between upper portions of the plurality of connecting pieces 7b. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an airbag apparatus including a housing that can be easily manufactured.

  BACKGROUND ART An airbag device that protects an occupant from an impact when a vehicle such as an automobile collides includes an airbag that is inflated and deployed by high-pressure gas ejected from an inflator when the vehicle collides.

  The airbag is housed in a housing in a compactly folded state, modularized (integrated) with the inflator, and installed inside a predetermined location, for example, an instrument panel. The upper surface of the airbag device is a cover. Covered by the body.

  Moreover, as a housing which accommodates an airbag, what was described in patent document 1, for example is well-known.

  The automotive airbag device described in Patent Document 1 includes a bottom portion in which a housing portion for storing an airbag is drawn in a dish shape, and a side wall that rises upward from the periphery of the bottom portion so as to surround the bottom portion. It consists of a locking edge and a locking hole that join side walls adjacent to each other in the circumferential direction of the bottom.

Then, the end of the side wall raised from the bottom is engaged with each other by the locking piece and the locking hole, and the adjacent side walls are connected and fixed to form a hollow box-shaped housing having an open top surface. As a result, it is possible to obtain a product with good manufacturability and a product with high dimensional accuracy.
JP 2008-13075 A

  However, the housing described in the cited document 1 has the following problems.

  That is, since the bottom is drawn with a single metal plate and the side walls are then formed by bending, the number of pressing steps increases when manufacturing the housing, and the manufacturing cost increases, and the time until completion is increased. Therefore, there are problems such as poor productivity.

  Also, when manufacturing a product by drawing a metal plate, the material is cut in advance in advance of the dimensions of the product, so the yield of the material is poor, and it is necessary to cut off the excess part after drawing. There is also a problem that manufacturing takes time.

  In addition, the flat box-shaped housing with an open upper surface depends on the rigidity of the material on the long side, so if you try to make the housing lightweight and reduce the material thickness, the airbag will There is a possibility that a so-called mouth opening in which the long side of the housing is pushed outward by the reaction force may occur.

  The present invention has been made to improve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an airbag device having a housing that is easy to manufacture and has high rigidity.

  The airbag apparatus of the present invention is an airbag apparatus that protects an occupant by inflating and deploying an airbag stored in a housing in a folded state with a high-pressure gas ejected from an inflator when a vehicle collides, The housing is composed of a base member and a frame member, and the base member is formed from a bottom plate to which the inflator is attached and a plurality of connecting pieces bent upward from the side edges of the bottom plate, and the frame member between the upper portions of the connecting pieces. The housing is formed by fixing the side portions of the housing.

  With the above configuration, the rigidity in the opening direction is greatly improved by the rigidity of the connecting pieces that support the side portions of the frame members and the hoop effect of the frame members that connect the connecting pieces, so that the airbag is inflated and deployed. It is possible to reliably prevent the side portion of the frame member from spreading outward due to the reaction force, and the airbag can be deployed in a predetermined direction.

  In the airbag device of the present invention, the base member is formed of a metal plate, and the frame member is formed of a metal strip that is thicker than the base member.

  With the above configuration, the connecting piece can be formed only by bending a part of the bottom plate, and the rigidity of the frame member can be set higher. The pressing process can be reduced as compared with the one to be bent, which makes it easy to manufacture the housing, and reduces the manufacturing cost and improves the productivity.

  In addition, since it is not necessary to cut the material in advance from the dimensions where the product is developed, the yield of the material is improved and the work of cutting off the excess part after molding is not required, which reduces the number of manufacturing steps. I can plan.

  In the airbag device of the present invention, a hook-like locking claw or bracket for attaching a housing to a case projecting from the back surface of a cover body that covers the upper portion of the airbag is provided on the frame member.

  With this configuration, the assembly operation of the airbag device can be performed easily and in a short time, so that the efficiency of the assembly operation is improved.

  The airbag apparatus according to the present invention can arbitrarily set the position and the number of connecting pieces of the base member.

  With this configuration, reaction force acting on the side of the frame member does not concentrate on a part of the base member, so that sufficient support force can be obtained even if the base member is formed of a thin metal plate. Thus, the weight of the housing can be reduced and the cost can be reduced, and the position of the reaction force and the adjustment of the reaction force support force can be freely set, so that the design of the airbag device is facilitated.

  According to the airbag device of the present invention, the rigidity in the opening direction is greatly improved by the rigidity of the connecting pieces that support the side portions of the frame members and the hoop effect of the frame members that connect the connecting pieces. The side force of the frame member can be reliably prevented from spreading outward due to the reaction force when the bag is inflated and deployed, and the airbag can be deployed in a predetermined direction.

  Further, since the connecting piece can be formed only by bending a part of the bottom plate, the housing can be easily manufactured, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced and the productivity can be improved.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  1 is a cross-sectional view of an airbag device, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a housing for housing an airbag, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the same, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the operation, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a second modification of the housing, FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a third modification of the housing, FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a fourth modification of the housing, and FIG. 9 is a fourth modification. It is a board drawing of the housing which becomes an example.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes, for example, a main body 1 of an airbag device for a passenger seat (hereinafter referred to as “device main body 1”), which is provided in an instrument panel 2 installed in the front part of a vehicle compartment (not shown). .

  The instrument panel 2 is formed with a substantially rectangular opening 2a in front of the passenger seat, and the opening 2a is formed by a cover body 4 having a similar shape formed slightly larger than the opening area of the opening 2a. Covered from above.

  The cover body 4 is integrally formed of a resin of the same color and the same material as the instrument panel 2 so as not to cause a sense of incongruity with the instrument panel 2. A tear line 4a is formed by a V-groove.

  When the airbag 3 is inflated, the tear line 4a is cleaved by the inflation pressure of the airbag 3 to form an opening in the cover body 4 where the airbag 3 is deployed. It is formed in a substantially H shape by a tear line and a vertical tear line continuously provided at both ends of the horizontal tear line (note that only the horizontal tear line is shown in FIG. 1), and by providing these tear lines 4a on the back surface of the cover body 4, A pair of door panel portions 4b are formed at positions facing each other across the horizontal tear line.

  A square box-like case 4c is provided on the back surface of the cover body 4 so as to surround the tear line 4a.

  The case 4c also serves as a part of a storage portion that stores the airbag 3, and has a bottom surface that is integrally formed on the back surface of the cover body 4 when the cover body 4 is formed of resin.

  The upper end of the case 4c is connected to the cover body 4 in the vicinity of the outer side of the tear line 4a, and locking holes 4d made of a plurality of long holes are formed around the lower end side at intervals in the horizontal direction. In addition, hook-like locking claws 8e protruding from the inside of the housing 6 are locked into the locking holes 4d from the inside.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the housing 6 is composed of two members, a base member 7 made of a metal plate and a frame member 8.

  The base member 7 has a polygonal shape such as a square or pentagon, for example, a rectangular bottom plate 7a having a long length in the vehicle width direction, and a plurality of, for example, three on one side, which are bent at a substantially right angle from the long side of the bottom plate 7a. The bottom plate 7a has, for example, two inflator mounting holes 7c opened at intervals in the vehicle width direction, and these inflator mounting holes 7c are connected to the bottom plate 7a. The inflator 10 is attached to the bottom plate 7a by the fixing tool 9 in a state where the gas ejection portion 10a of the inflator 10 is fitted from below.

  The connecting piece 7b of the base member 7 is provided at a position facing in the front-rear direction and has a semicircular tip, and a mounting hole 7d is formed in the approximate center of the semicircle. The frame member 8 is connected substantially horizontally between the tips of the connecting pieces 7b by a fixing tool 12 such as a rivet inserted into 7d.

  The frame member 8 includes a long side portion 8a which is a side portion having substantially the same length as the long side of the bottom plate 7a, and a short side portion 8b which is a side portion slightly longer than ½ of the short side length of the bottom plate 7a. A pair of members made of the above are combined in a frame shape, and the whole is formed of a metal strip that is thicker than the base member 7.

  The short side portion 8b is bent at a substantially right angle from both ends of the long side portion 8a, and the short side portions 8b are connected to each other by a fixing tool 13 such as a rivet with the tips of the short side portions 8b overlapped with each other. Thus, the entirety is formed in a square frame shape as shown in FIG.

  In the long side portion 8a of the frame member 8, circular hollow holes 8c are punched and formed at intervals in the longitudinal direction, and in the short side portion 8b, oval hollow holes 8d are punched and formed. Thus, the weight of the housing 6 is reduced.

  Further, a plurality of locking claws 8e project outward from the upper edge of the long side portion 8a.

  Each locking claw 8e has a hook shape and is formed integrally with the long side portion 8a so as to be positioned between the lightening holes 8c formed in the long side portion 8a. Is locked from the inside in the locking hole 4d formed on the lower end side of the case 4c as described above.

  On the other hand, a plurality of gas ejection holes (not shown) are formed in the circumferential direction in the gas ejection portion 10a of the inflator 10, and high-pressure gas ejected from these gas ejection holes is ejected into the airbag 3. It has become so.

  The airbag 3 is formed by sewing a woven fabric such as nylon (registered trademark) into a bag shape, and the peripheral portion of the gas introduction port 3 a is fixed by a fixing tool 9 that fixes the inflator 10 to the bottom plate 7 a of the base member 7. It is airtightly attached around the inflator attaching hole 7c, and is housed in the housing 6 and the case 4c in a folded state as shown in FIG.

  Next, the operation of the thus configured airbag device will be described.

  The airbag device is a bracket that is inserted into the instrument panel 2 through the opening 2a of the instrument panel 2 in a modular state as shown in FIG. (Not shown) is installed on the vehicle body side, for example, in the front of the passenger seat in the instrument panel 2. At this time, the airbag 3 is folded and the upper part projects against the back surface of the cover body 4. It is housed in the provided case 4 c and the lower part is housed in the housing 6.

  On the other hand, when a collision sensor (not shown) senses that the vehicle has collided, the inflator 10 is operated, and high-pressure gas is ejected into the airbag 3 from the gas ejection hole opened in the gas ejection part 10a of the inflator 10.

  As a result, the airbag 3 starts to inflate within the case 4c and the housing 6, and simultaneously pushes up the door panel portion 4b formed on the cover body 4 from below, and simultaneously opens the openings of the case 4c and the housing 6 by the reaction force. Press from the inside in all directions.

  As a result, the side wall is formed by a thin metal plate in order to deform the case 4c formed of resin and the opening of the housing 6 formed of metal into a barrel shape outwardly as indicated by phantom lines in FIG. In the conventional housing, there is a possibility that the mouth opening as shown by the phantom line in FIG. 4 occurs in the upper surface opening, and the airbag 3 is not instantly deployed in a predetermined direction.

  However, in the airbag apparatus according to the present invention, the housing 6 is composed of the base member 7 and the frame member 8, and the mouth is opened by the hoop effect of the frame member 8 formed of a metal strip that is thicker than the base member 7. The rigidity of the direction is greatly improved, and at the same time, the connecting piece 7b formed by bending from the bottom plate 7a of the base member 7 supports the long side portion 8a of the frame member 8, and the long side portion 8a of the frame member 8 is In order to prevent outward expansion, the upper surface opening of the housing 6 is not opened by the reaction force when the airbag 3 is inflated, and the airbag can be deployed in a predetermined direction.

  Further, the long side portion 8a of the frame member 8 is supported by a plurality of connecting pieces 7b protruding from the base member 7, and the reaction force acting on the long side portion 8a is dispersed and supported by each connecting piece 7b. Therefore, the reaction force does not concentrate on a part of the base member 7.

  As a result, a sufficient supporting force can be obtained even if the base member 7 is formed of a thin metal plate. Therefore, the housing 6 can be reduced in weight and cost, and the position and number of the connecting pieces 7b can be changed. The position of the reaction force and the adjustment of the support force can be freely set, so that the airbag device can be easily designed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case of the dual inflator type airbag device in which the two inflators 10 are attached to the bottom plate 7a of the base member 7 has been described. However, the case of the single inflator type airbag device is shown in FIG. As in the first modification, one inflator attachment hole 7c may be provided in the bottom plate 7a of the base member 7.

  On the other hand, FIGS. 6 to 9 show second to fourth modified examples of the housing 6, and these modified examples will be described next.

  In addition, the same part as the said embodiment attaches | subjects the same code | symbol, and abbreviate | omits the description.

  In the second modification shown in FIG. 6, the upper edge of the long side portion 8a of the frame member 8 is bent substantially outward at a right angle to form a rib 8f, whereby the long side portion 8a has an inverted L-shaped cross section. Thus, since the section modulus of the long side portion 8a is increased and the rigidity is increased, a larger reaction force can be supported. When the reaction force to be supported is the same, the frame member 8 of the above embodiment is compared. The plate thickness can be reduced.

  Moreover, in this 2nd modification, the bracket 15 protrudes from the short side part 8b of the frame member 8, and this bracket 15 is fixed to a mounting seat protruding from the side surface of the case 4c of the cover body 4 (both not shown). Because of this, the locking claw 8e is omitted.

  In the third modification shown in FIG. 7, the reinforcing plate 8g is attached to the rib 8f of the frame member 8 described in the second modification, and the rigidity of the long side portion 8a of the frame member 8 is further increased. Even if the hole 8h is formed in the reinforcing plate 8g in order to reduce the weight of the frame member 8, sufficient rigidity can be obtained.

  In the third modified example, as in the second modified example, a bracket 15 protrudes from the short side portion 8b of the frame member 8, and the bracket 15 is fixed to an attachment seat protruding from the side surface of the case 4c of the cover body 4. The latching claw 8e is omitted because it is attached with a tool.

  In the fourth modified example shown in FIG. 8, the number of connecting pieces 7b formed by bending from the bottom plate 7a of the base member 7 is set so that one is an odd number and the other is an even number.

  By changing the number of connecting pieces 7b as in the fourth modified example, when the base member 7 is removed from the metal flat plate as shown in FIG. 9, the even connecting pieces 7b are positioned between the odd connecting pieces 7b. Since the base member 7 can be arranged so that the two base members 7 can approach each other, the material yield can be greatly improved.

  In the above-described embodiment and the modified example of the housing, the case of adopting the housing of the airbag device applied to the passenger seat has been described. However, the embodiment can be applied to the housing of the airbag device applied to other than the passenger seat.

  The airbag device of the present invention can prevent the opening of the long side portion of the frame member from opening and closing due to a reaction force when the airbag is inflated and deployed, by greatly improving the rigidity of the frame member in the opening direction. The bag can be developed in a predetermined direction, and the connecting piece can be formed by simply bending a part of the bottom plate, thereby facilitating the manufacture of the housing and reducing the manufacturing cost and productivity. Since the improvement can be achieved, it is suitable for an airbag device or the like that protects an occupant from an impact when a vehicle such as an automobile collides.

It is sectional drawing of the airbag apparatus which becomes embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the housing of the airbag apparatus which becomes embodiment of this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the housing of the airbag apparatus which becomes embodiment of this invention. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the airbag apparatus which becomes embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the 1st modification of the housing of the airbag apparatus which becomes embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the 2nd modification of the housing of the airbag apparatus which becomes embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the 3rd modification of the housing of the airbag apparatus which becomes embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the 4th modification of the housing of the airbag apparatus which becomes embodiment of this invention. It is a board drawing which shows the 4th modification of the housing of the airbag apparatus which becomes embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus main body 3 Airbag 4 Cover body 6 Housing 7 Base member 7a Bottom plate 7b Connection piece 8 Frame member 8a Long side part (side part)
8b Short side 8e Locking claw 10 Inflator 15 Bracket

Claims (3)

  An airbag device for protecting an occupant by inflating and deploying an airbag housed in a housing in a folded state with a high-pressure gas ejected from an inflator when a vehicle collides, wherein the housing includes a base member and a frame The base member is formed from a bottom plate to which the inflator is attached and a plurality of connecting pieces bent upward from the side edges of the bottom plate, and the side of the frame member is interposed between the upper portions of the connecting pieces. An airbag device characterized in that the housing is formed by fixing a portion.   The airbag apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the base member is formed of a metal plate, and the frame member is formed of a metal strip having a thickness greater than that of the base member. 3. The air according to claim 1, wherein a hook-like locking claw or a bracket for attaching the housing to a case projecting from a back surface of a cover body that covers the upper portion of the airbag is provided on the frame member. Bag device.